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Yuna (lady_summoner) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2009-01-02 20:51:00

Entry tags:

arrival, complete, day 27, severus snape, yuna

Twenty Seven
WHO: Yuna and Snape
WHAT: The lady summoner arrives
WHEN: Day 27, morning
WHERE: By the ski lift
RATING: Nothing above a G in this one
STATUS: Complete

It was time. She had chosen this, hadn't she? When she had decided that she couldn't possibly sacrifice her friends to summon the final aeon, she had made her choice. There had been two options, really, and each of them was just as unthinkable in her mind. Kill one of her friends or all of her aeons. She suspected she never would have been able to make the choice if the fayth themselves had not asked her to do this. Which didn't make it that much easier, really, and it was nearly too hard to bear.

Her face was calm, resolute, despite the pain in the depths of her oddly-colored eyes. She was going to do this. There was no other way. Sin had to be defeated, the Calm had to come. But not a Calm that would last only a few years, no, that wasn't going to be good enough for her. She would only accept a Calm that lasted forever. An eternal Calm. And this was the only way to do it.

Well, she would start with the most difficult and go from there. That way, if her strength began to wane, she would already have done the worst. Who would it be, then? Who would she summon first? Who would she kill first? The choice was simple. The one that had been her first, the one that she shared the strongest bond with. The Aeon of Besaid Temple, Valefor. She would summon it, and then she and her guardians would kill it.

The Hymn of the Fayth was over. Yuna wasn't singing anymore, she wasn't leading Spira in song to pacify Sin. She stood with her six friends behind her, but she was very much alone as she began to twirl her staff. The ritual to summon Valefor had begun. What followed would be slaughter. She found her mind trying to wander, wondering if the aeons would fight back despite the agreement of the Fayth to this massacre. She wouldn't think about that, though.

Better to focus on the white light that was forming above her head, the rift that she knew would soon split to reveal the aeon who was also her friend. She wasn't crying. This was far too important for tears. She simply stood still, her face turned upward to the white light. Out of nothing but that light, a winged form somewhat like a very odd, large bird took shape. It swept down toward her, and Yuna walked toward it just as it landed very near to her. Her guardians stayed back for just a moment.

It was just the summoner and her aeon on the field of battle, frozen for a moment in a sad tableau. Perhaps in different circumstances, Yuna would have noticed the black whole opening up at her feet. Perhaps she would have been able to dodge it. But she wasn't, and the first she knew of it, her booted foot was closing on nothing. She gasped and fell forward, and before anyone else could react, Valefor swooped down. Once more, her loyal friend caught her, but it was too late.

There was a shower of bright lights in many different colors. Blue, black, yellow, and more, they all swept down into the hole behind the summoner. It closed, and for a moment, there was nothing. Yuna only had enough time to wonder if she'd been killed, if she was now an unsent, before she felt something on her face. It was cold, and wet, and something that she'd become familiar with on Mount Gagazet. Snow.

The light came next, and she could see. It didn't make any sense to her, though. From her perch securely on the back of her friend, she looked around. Rolling hills, all covered in the white stuff. Where was she? What was going on? Where were Rikku, Lulu, Auron, Wakka, Kimahri and... Tidus? What had happened? Shading her eyes against the brightness around her, she looked around. Maybe she could find someone to help her.

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lady_summoner
2009-01-06 05:10 pm UTC (link)

The summoner frowned thoughtfully, and she noticed that he had introduced himself not only by name, but also by country and even planet. This interested her on two levels. First, that he felt such a thing necessary, though she didn't quite know what that meant yet. Second, that she might have been rude by not doing the same.

"Oh! I am Yuna of Besaid, born in Bevelle, on the planet Spira." She would have bowed to him, but they were walking and she didn't want to hold him up more than she was already, struggling through the snow.

She did pause, though, and gasp softly as she saw the complex. It was bigger than anything she'd seen on Spira, except for the blitzball stadium. "Mirage..." She spoke the word softly, though her eyes were focused solely on the buildings. "This is incredible..."

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severelyseverus
2009-01-06 11:31 pm UTC (link)

Snape nodded as he walked. He was grateful to her for filling in the gaps in his knowledge of her that he had pointed out. He had never heard of Spira, but that no longer surprised him. Though he had not gone out of his way to meet many of his fellow inhabitants, the Planet had made sure that he could not avoid doing so, and he had had no power to avoid learning that they came from many varied worlds. He wondered if Spira, like the homeworld of so many others here, was another variation of his Earth.

"Incredible... Yes, I suppose to some the very possibility of the existence of this place must be difficult to believe. Others of us, of course, come from societies where magics and technologies exist that must seem nothing short of miraculous to those from more primitive cultures."

Yuna seemed bright enough, but he wondered about her own culture. If a place like Mirage seemed impossible, what kind of native philosophic context did that indicate. It was unlikely to be animistic, since that would just lead her to see this as a spirit world. Perhaps it was like the worst aspects of muggle culture, resolutely ignorant and hard-headed.

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lady_summoner
2009-01-06 11:45 pm UTC (link)

"I have never seen anything so big that wasn't filled with water." It could have been a joke, but wasn't. She spoke in a completely serious tone. The only thing she'd seen larger than this were oceans, large lakes, and the Blitzball statium.

He seemed to have some wrong ideas about what she had meant, but it would be rude to correct him. She simply accepted what he said, seeing no need to cause any discomfort between them. His statement of other places as being 'primitive' made her wonder, for the first time, what he or anyone else here would think of Spira. She was quiet as they approached the building complex.

Finally, she couldn't hold back her curiousity anymore. He had spoken things that made little sense to her, but in her typical way, she'd thought them over to see if she could make them make sense. She hadn't really been able to, there were still gaps. "Forgive me, I don't want to impose but... you say I am here to stay. What makes you think that?"

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severelyseverus
2009-01-09 12:28 am UTC (link)

Snape had no idea what to make of Yuna's water comment. She didn't seem insane. Perhaps she was still touched by her transport to Mirage. He really didn't remember being that dazzled by the experience. Perhaps she had a weaker constitution than he.

"Have you really? I can't imagine what that must be like."

They made their way down the hill to the complex's central courtyard as she thought about what he had said. When she asked him about the source of his comments, he sighed to be so close to the plaque that held her answer, but not close enough to show her.

"I think that because of what is written on the plaque ahead of us, there." He pointed. "In a moment you will be able to read it for yourself, and then you will have as many answers as any of the rest of us. We are all, you see, plucked from various worlds and times, as ignorant when we arrived as you are now."

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lady_summoner
2009-01-09 01:58 am UTC (link)

Yuna couldn't read Snape's thoughts, but even if she could, she probably wouldn't have taken offense. It wasn't really her nature. For all she knew, everyone had misconceptions about her. She wasn't going to judge them for it. Besides, she was sure enough of herself, with a sort of quiet confidence, that his doubts couldn't infect her.

So she simply nodded in response to his comment, but didn't see any need for further explanation. She was a quiet person by nature, and was quite content to just follow him, do her best not to trip and fall into the heavy snow, and wait for his response to her question.

"Okay." It wasn't a snarky comment, it was said in a tone that suggested it was, just as she said, perfectly fine. There was no sarcasm detectable in her voice. She waited as they approached the building, thinking her own thoughts, and quite content to not bother him for responses. She would know soon enough. She really was nothing if not patient.

At long last, they were at the door. She was behind him slightly, still swathed in his voluminous, and very warm, robes. She cuddled close in them, noticing a strange smell that permeated them. Not unpleasant, it smelled rather... herbal, she decided. She liked it. She waited to see where they were going to go now that they were at the building he had been pointing too earlier.

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severelyseverus
2009-01-09 11:56 pm UTC (link)

Snape opened the large wooden front door set in the gigantic gate that led to the resort complex. In most settings, the gate had been open, but it had been closed here due to the weather, he suspected. Glancing back to see Yuna waiting patiently to follow him, he allowed a brief sensation of satisfaction with her obedience to wash over him before he strode confidently into the central courtyard, where the large placque, their only direct communication from Mirage, sat firmly, surrounded by snow.

Stepping back, he allowed the young lady to read for herself the fate that the Planet had chosen for each of them. He was confident that, whether she understood what she read, the inscribed words would carry more weight than his would. Glancing around the courtyard as she read, he noticed the blink of her room-key, and went to retrieve it as she read.

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lady_summoner
2009-01-10 02:28 am UTC (link)

Many thoughts went through her mind as she waited for the gate to open. She still didn't understand, and while she was waiting patiently, she couldn't quite stop her brain from working at it. She'd been somewhere else, that much was clear. It didn't take super intelligence to figure that out, in her opinion. But how, or why, she was where she now was, and what part this man figured in to it, she had no idea.

When he revealed the plaque, she looked at him briefly for confirmation that she was supposed to go to it, and then walked over carefully in the snow. She read the entire thing, blinked, and then read it again more carefully. Finally, she turned to Snape and simply looked at him, her gaze suddenly somewhat penetrating.

"Is this... a joke?" Despite her uncertainty about the situation, her tone was still just as polite as ever. She was simply asking for information, not getting angry or anything else. She'd been so occupied with the plaque that she hadn't noticed him leaving or coming back with the key.

"I can't stay here." She looked around, wondering if some vengeful servent of the Planet was going to come smack her for saying such a thing. "I'm sorry, but I just can't."

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severelyseverus
2009-01-10 04:54 pm UTC (link)

Snape watched Yuna's face as she read the plaque, fascinated by the emotions that played unbidden across it. It was clear that she was having trouble accepting the truth. It seemed most here did. He watched her reaction for a moment before responding to her question and statements.

"I'm afraid it is not a joke, my dear lady. This is all very real. As I mentioned earlier, you are here to stay. I am also afraid that appealing to me won't make a difference. Despite the circumstances of our meeting, I am not in any way employed by this place. I am simply a fellow captive, like yourself. I merely am more knowledgable about our new home because I have been here almost four weeks. Now, if you will allow me, there is one other piece of business to transact before your welcome is complete." He held out her room key. "This is a key to a suite that has been set aside for you. If you would like, I can lead you there."

Secretly, he hoped she would not like such a thing. Every moment he was not out searching for Faith was a moment the foolish girl might be freezing to death.

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lady_summoner
2009-01-10 05:45 pm UTC (link)

When she turned back to him, it was obvious from her bearing that she'd come to some sort of conclusion. She met his eyes squarely, and though she didn't speak and acknowledge his claims, everything about her body language spoke of a new-found purpose. Both the green and the blue orbs were intense, almost fiery.

"Thank you for your time, Severus Snape." She hadn't been given a title for him, and somehow didn't think he'd been a summoner or a guardian to demand the honorific of either 'sir' or 'my lord'. If she heard different, she would change it. Politeness would demand nothing else.

With a bow, she accepted the key and turned around to go. "I think I will go find it myself. Again, my thanks." Even the fact that she was pretty sure he was making fun of her was no reason to be rude to him. Either he was, which said more about him than her, or he wasn't, in which case, a lack of politeness simply wouldn't do. So she thanked him and took her leave, meaning to find out answers from someone who made more sense.

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